Automatic feed mechanism for rolling-mills.



W. H. FORBES. AUTOMATIC FEED MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18, 1913.

1,1 04,788. Patented July 28, 1914.

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W. H. FORBES. AUTOMATIC FEED MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS. APPLIOATION PILEDAUG. 18, 1913.

Patented July'28, 1914.

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I for rolling mills,

UNITED STATES; PATENT ornion.

WILSON H. FORBES, 013' DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

AUTOMATIC FEED MECHANISM FOR ROLLING-MILLS.

ings, and to the" characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

relates to feed mechanism and is especially designed and adapted for use in connection With'mills for rolling shafts and axles from plastic billets of metal.

The invention has for its object the provision of simple, rapid and etlicient means for automatically controlling the feed in the This invention delivery and discharge of the work to and means for drlving,

from the rolls, wherein the billet to be treated, requiring a series of operations,

may be passed in rapid and continuous progression from one set of a gang of rolls to another in the operations of formation, to the completion and discharge of the finished product.

The above object is attained by the employment of the construction and arrangement of parts disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

igure 1 is a perspective view of a train of rolls showing the feed mechanism applied thereto in position for operation, also showing one of the sets of rolls equipped with a driving gear. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section centrally through the rolls and feed mechanism, showing by dotted lines. the operative position of the feed mechanism.

The bed of the machine in which the rolls are journaled, together with the rolls and may be of any desired form of'construction that will permit asuitmounted, as

able overhead structure-or superstructure, upon which the- .feed mechanism may be the feed mechanism constitutes the essential feature of my invention. The construction of the bed of the mill shown in the accompanying drawings as best adapted Specification of Letters Patent.

for the purpose, consists of two side mem- Patented July 28, 1914.

Application filed August 1a, 1913. Serial No. 785,205.

bers 1 lying parallel with each other and having flanged bases 2 that are divided into sections, each of which isdropped below the base line of the preceding section in the form of steps, and rising from each end of said base, and at points in line with the steps therein, are-a series of abutments or piers 3 of graduated heights corresponding with the stepping of the base, which divide said sections into compartments and also serve as supports for the superstructure upon which the feed mechanism is suspended. Each of said compartments is occupied by a pair of rolls 4 and 4 which are disposed in adjacent parallel relation to each other, being j'ournaled at their reduced ends 5 in triangular bearing boxes 6 that are seated on the base 1 of the bed and abut against the piers 3 of said base, whereby said rolls are firmly held in rotative relation to each other. The rolls thus carried are arranged in .gangs or multiplepairs of gradually reduced diameters and are so adjusted in pairs with relation to each other as to provide the required space between their opposed. surfaces for the reception of the billet 29 which will be reduced to the diameter equal to the space provided by a rolling contact while confined between the oppositely traveling peripheries of said rolls, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. As a suitable means for driving the rolls in the same general direction to cause their opposed surfaces to pass in opposite directions, I have shown in Fig. 1, one set of the rolls 4 and 4' each provided at one of its journaled ends 5 with a spur gear 7 rigidly secured thereto. Inclosing said gears in the form of a housing is a gear case 8,

which is bolted to the bed of the mill and is provided centrally therein with journal boxes 9, in which astub shaftlO carrying the pinion gear 11 is journaled to rotate.

Said pinion meshing with each of the gears 7 of the rolls 4 and 4 respectively, will rotate said rolls in a given direction through the application of power to the shaft 10'. Mounted on the peripheries of each of said rolls at points near the ends thereof and in a line parallel with the axis of. the roll, are curved lugs or brackets 12 which project radially from said rolls and are disposed respectively on said rolls in reversely opposed ositions, being so timed and maintained with relation to each other in their respective directions of travel that when the brackets of the roll 4 shall have reached a point on a horizontal plane with the roll the brackets of the roll 4' will have reached a point on a vertical plane with said roll and vice versa, as in the positions shown 111 Fig. 2.

Supported upon the piers 3 of the bed of the mill'is an overhead structure or superstructure consisting of I-beam trusses 13 which span said piers and are carried at their ends upon uprights 1 1 that are anchored to said piers, thus forming a series of arches extending across the ends of each set of rolls. Depending from points near the centers of the trusses 13 at opposite sides of the frame and in a vertical line centrally between each set of rolls are journal bearing,

hangers 15, and journaled in said hangers is a shaft 16 which carries vertically depending curved triggers 17. The lower curved ends of said triggers lie in the path of travel of the brackets 12 of the roll 4, and the upper ends of said triggers receive and are secured rigidly to a shaft 18. The ends of said shaft extend through and beyond the sides of said triggers and form-a pivotal connection with the upper ends of the connecting links 19, the lower ends of the links 19 extending downwardly at an incline being pivotally connected with a table 20 through the shaft 21, which forms a part of said table and also serves as a pivotal support for said table upon the vertical links 22. Said links are pivoted at their lower ends to the ends of the shaft 21 and at their upper ends to the studs 23 projectin from the inner faces of the trusses 13, as cl arly shown in Fig. 1. In addition to the shaft 21said table consists of two parallel side rails 24, through which said shaft passes at points near their inner ends, together .with the tie rods 25 that also pass through the side rails and are secured at their ends to the centerand outer ends of said side rails. The inner ends of said side rails are reduced by beveling the under edges to form the tapered ends 26, which normally engage and rest upon shoulders 17 formed on the forward edge of the triggers 17. The body of the table is supported upon rollers 27 which are journaled upon a shaft 28 extending across and beneath said table and having its ends secured in the uprights of the framework, whereby said table is supported additionally to its pivotal support on the shaft 21 and normallly rests at a slight incline toward the rol s.

It will now be understood from the foregoing description of the construction and arrangement of parts that the operation will be as follows: The several parts of the mechanism being in their normal positions shown in Fig. 1, the work or billet to be operated upon is delivered upon the table 20,

after having been heat treated to render it their pivotal adjacent'faces of said reduced to a diameter equal to tween said rolls by a rolling contact, in

plastic. The billet being supported at opposite ends upon the upper inclined edges of the side rails 24 of said table will be caused Y a application of'power to the shaft 10 as be fore described) in their circumferential as shown in Fig. 2,

travel, will engage the depending ends of the triggers and cause said triggers to rock with shaft, swinging their lower ends in the arc. of a circle and disengaging their shoulders 17 from the ends 26 of said table. The upper ends of said triggers swinging in the arc of a circletoward said table, through the connecting links 19, will impart an outward movement to said table in which the body portion travels upon the rollers 27, while the inner end swings in the arc of a circle upon the supporting links 22 as the ends 26 of the side rails are withdrawn from the shoulders 17 of the triggers, thus producing a gap between said disengaged parts sufficient to permit the passage of the billet, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The billet thus released is caught in its descent toward the rolls by the brackets 12 of the roll 4 and is lodged between the roll and roll 4', being the space bewhich position it is retained until the brackets 12 of the roll 4', in their circumferential travel, shall engage said billet, carrying it up with the travel of the roll to a point on a horizontal line with the periphery of said roll, and discharging it onto the table of a succeeding set of rolls, ted lines in Fig. 2, where it is again handled, operated upon and discharged in the same as indicated by dotmanner as just described by a duplicate set of rolls and feed mechanism. The same operation may be repeated in as many succeeding sets of rolls as may be required to reduce the billet to the desired size.

It will be readily understood that when the brackets shall have released the-triggers in their forward travel after having discharged and received the billet from the table, said table together with the triggers,

through the swinging action of their suspending and connecting links,

gravity, to their locked engagement in posiwill return by tion for the reception of another billet and the repetition of the operation just describe Having thus fully set forth my invention,

by Letters what I claim as new, and desire to secure Patent, is

1. In a rolling mill having a supportin frame with rolls journaled therein, a feed mechanism comprising a table suspended above said rolls, depending triggers piv otally suspended above said rolls and having locked engagement with said table, and means carriedby one of said rolls for releasing said triggers from locked engagement with said table.

2. In a rolling mill having a supporting frame with rolls journaled-therein, a feed mechanism comprisin table movably suspended above said ro ls, depending triggers pivotally suspended above said rolls and having locked engagement with said table, means carried by said triggers for imparting motion to said table, and means carried by one of said rolls for releasin said triggers from locked engagement wit said table.

v 3. In a rolling mill having a supporting frame with rolls journaled therein, a feed mechanism comprising a table pivotally suspended above said rolls, depending triggers pivotally suspended above said rolls and having a linked connection at their upper ends with said table and a locked engagement at their lower ends with saidtable, and means carried by one of said rolls for swinging said triggers to release said table and impart motion thereto.

4. In a rolling mill having a supporting frame with rolls journaled therein, brackets mounted on theperiphery of said rolls to rotate therewith, a table pivotally suspended above said rolls, triggers pivotally sus pended above said rolls, their lower ends having locked engagement with said table and depending in the path of travel of said brackets, their upper ends having linked connection with said table,'and means for rotating said 'rolls to cause said brackets to engage said triggers.

5. In a rollin mill having a supporting frame with a pair of rolls journaled therein,

a feed mechanism comprising a table for carrying the billet movably suspended above said rolls, means for actuating said table suspended above said rolls, means carried by one of said rolls for engaging said actuating means to discharge and receive said billet from said table, and means carried by v the other of said rolls for discharging said billet from said rolls.

6. In a rolling mill having a supporting frame with a pair-of rolls journaled therein, means suspended above Said rolls for carrying and delivering a billet'to said rolls, means carried by one of said rolls for receiving said billet, and means carried by the other of said rolls for discharging saidbillet therefrom.

7. In a rolling mill havin a supporting frame with rolls journaled t erein, a table for carrying a billet movably supported above said rolls, locking and releasing means for said table depending from said frame above said rolls, means carried by one of said rolls for releasing said locking means to discharge and receive said billet from said table, and means carried by the other of said rolls for discharging said billet therefrom.

8. In a rolling mill having a supporting frame with rolls journaled therein, a feed mechanism comprising brackets carried by said rolls for receiving and discharging the billet to be Worked, a table for carrying the billet pivotally suspended above said rolls and having sliding engagement with the supporting frame, triggers pivotally sus pended above certain .of said rolls in the path of travel of said brackets having linked connections at their upper ends with said table and a locking engagement near their lower ends with said table, and means for rotating said rolls to cause said brackets to release said triggers and shift said tableto discharge the billet upon said brackets.

In testimony whereo I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILSON H. FORBES. WVitnesses H. R. MILLER, M. E. BROESAMLE. 

